What is a Brand and how important is it to my business?

Your brand is your business’s most important asset.

It is made up of your business name, logo and visual identity, the tone
in which you communicate with your audience and the benefits and
beliefs associated with your product or service.

Your brand is what your customer experiences when they encounter
your product or service in person or online. It is the memory of the
experience they have of dealing with you or your staff and the
benefits while using your product.

Let’s look at an example of what makes up a healthy brand: Nike*

Brand Values (beliefs and guiding principles)
- Freedom of self-expression

Proposition (what the product is and key reasons for buying)
- The best sports gear used by the best sports people that inspires you
to go beyond yourself

Substantiators (reasons to believe the proposition)
- Pure, modern "fluid" design
- Sponsors sports stars and teams who rewrite the rules
- State of the art yet simple technology

Benefits (the emotional and functional benefits)
- Makes you look cool/stylish
- Makes you confident
- Helps you perform better

Personality (human characteristics: setting tone and feel)
- Charismatic, stylish and cool
- Naturally gifted
- Creative
- Irreverent

Essence (brand's genetic code: what the brand stands for above all)
- Inspiration

Are you clear what your brand stands for?

EXERCISE:

Using the example above, try to clarify exactly what your brand is
made up of. This will help you keep on track when communicating with
your audience.

Some of the topics covered in my future blogs will explore the
different elements of a healthy brand and give you tips on how
to build your brand and make it more valuable.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2007 the Nike brand was valued at US$12,004 million, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year.**

*Source: Queensland University of Technology
**Source: Interbrand Best Global Brands 2007 http://www.interbrand.com/best_brands_2007.asp